Research and Markets: Virtual Desktop Infrastructure Remains the Outsider for Alternative Desktop Strategies

 DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Virtual Desktop Infrastructure Remains the Outsider for Alternative Desktop Strategies" report to their offering.

With the release of Microsoft Windows 7, the global light has once again been shone on organisational desktop deployment strategies. Whether it is opportunities for cheaper provision of software using cloud computing solutions, the need to move to more energy efficient devices or the potential flexibility of virtualisation, CIOs are increasingly faced with the need to reassess their traditional approach to delivery of basic desktop computing services. In response to these pressures Longhaus had received a number of inquiries from clients in relation to the potential for desktop virtualisation and other alternative desktop deployment strategies.

As a result of this increasing activity Longhaus undertook to assess the intentions of the Australian market in relation to adoption of Windows 7 versus potential alternative desktop deployment strategies. The data, gathered as part of the Longhaus 2009 ICT Spending and Priorities Study, and the Longhaus Q4 2009 CIO Confidence Poll, was contrasted with the results of briefings from IBM, Microsoft, and VMWare to determine the future directions of desktop computing and its implications for Australian end-user organisations and the local ICT market.

The traditional desktop offering of most Australian medium to large enterprises represents their flagship ICT service. Its performance is often the most highly noticeable representation of their technical capability for existing and prospective employees, not to mention in many cases their customers. Unlike its data centre-based cousin, the desktop is renewed far more regularly and ICT organisations considering desktop renewal in 2009 have been faced with far more than just an en-masse device replacement involving benign questions of processor speed, hard disk size, memory capacity or screen dimensions. Instead, CIOs in Australia have been faced with a meaningful choice in the desktop arena: the new Windows 7 offering from Microsoft or the increasingly popular desktop virtualisation solutions from vendors such as VMware, Citrix, Sun or Novell.

However, according to the results of the Longhaus 2009 ICT Spending and Priorities Study and Q4 2009 CIO Confidence Poll, the traditional approach to desktop deployment will continue with wholesale adoption of centralised virtual desktop infrastructure yet to occur. Only 19% of Australia's medium to large enterprises indicated that they had adopted this model of desktop delivery, while in contrast 36% already use some form of terminal or remote desktop services approach for their central desktop needs. Meanwhile, 49% of these same firms will make the move to Windows 7, many from Windows XP.Giving further consolation to Microsoft is the fact that the same level of firms, 49%, would consider Microsoft's alternative desktop deployment offerings, compared with only 32% that would consider VMware's approach to desktop transformation. Irrespective of the solution provider chosen, organisations should seek to understand their current starting position in relation to the use of desktop virtualisation and plot a journey that ensures they are not proliferating alternatives that ultimately undermine this most visible of all ICT services.

Companies Mentioned:

    * Sun
    * Citrix Systems
    * VMWare
    * Ericom
    * Microsoft
    * Parallels
    * Quest

Products Mentioned:

    * Sun VDI 3.0
    * XenDesktop
    * VMWare View
    * PowerTerm WebConnect
    * Virtual PC 2007
    * Parallels Workstation
    * vWorkspace
    * Microsoft HyperV
    * Oracle VM
    * VMWare ESX
    * XEN-based
    * Parallels Virtuozzo Containers